The minutes of the previous meeting were adopted without corrections or additions.

Senate Reports

President’s Report

1.The President introduced a visitor, Vuyokazi Memani-Sedile from the University of South Africa, who has been here for the past month as an ACE Fellows Program for college administrators from South Africa. Geneseo’s ACE Fellow last year, Charles Wilson, had an opportunity to visit South Africa as part of the same program. “Vuyo,” who is a senior finance officer is observing all aspects of college administration at Geneseo and in SUNY.

2.There was a good turnout for the All College Event “Diversity and Community: A Call to Action,” with more than 500 people attending. Thank you to the Senate for supporting this program. The College needs to give more time and attention to the experiences of students of color and to be mindful of where we are falling short in creating a supportive and open campus community. President Dahl is hoping that this convocation and other events will spur action and thought in the classroom and the curriculum. The College continues to get more diverse faculty, students, and staff. There are things that students can do to create a better campus climate, so we need to think long and hard, then act. President Dahl will continue to speak out on this issue, and he encourages such enriching events as the FARI (Fighting Against Racial Injustice) group forum held Friday night and AOP’s student reunion and dedication ceremony of the Isom Fearn Access Opportunity Program. The Diversity Commission is also going to continue its good work with further deliberative dialogues.

3.We have joined the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, which is a group of college and universities working to model ways to combat global warming. The President encouraged faculty and staff to join our College Sustainability Task Force, which is coordinating local efforts to reduce our carbon footprint.

4.At their May meeting, the SUNY Trustees approved the concept of the Academic Excellence Fee, which would provide considerable revenue to help reduce the student/faculty ratio. This is currently in the Governor’s office in regulatory reform and will not emerge for quite some time. The Governor has nominated three people to the SUNY Board of Trustees: Carl Hayden (as new Board Chair), Linda Sanford, an executive from IBM, and H. Carl McCall, the former Comptroller. Nothing has happened on these nominations. The Commission on Higher Education is also looking into issues related to tuition and SUNY funding. Although things are happening in various arenas, concrete action on a search for a new Chancellor and tuition policy is stalled pending Senate approval of a new Chair of the Trustees and other recommendations of the Governor. With respect to many issues, we are in a state of suspended animation at the System and State Legislature level; what will happen is unclear.

Provost’s Report

1.The Provost encouraged everyone, including students, to take advantage of the many wonderful presentations on campus this semester. The Hubble Space exhibit is an excellent learning opportunity for faculty and students, and it can provide a useful backdrop for all variety of discussions.

2. All are encouraged to attend the open forums of the Task Force on Curriculum. There will be four or five open forums this semester which will give people an opportunity to share what they think of our current curricular offerings and whether or not there are other things we should be thinking about. The next open forum will be Wednesday, Sept. 26th at 1:30 in Welles 121. Other dates are listed in the recently circulated email.

Chair’s Report

1.Senate Committees are almost complete. There was one omission in the Bulletin—Leigh O’Brien is serving on the Faculty Affairs Committee. If you were supposed to receive a paper copy of the bulletin and did not, please let Chair Granger or Jen Perry know.

2. Before the regular fall elections the Senate will hold elections for seats on the Professional Leave Review and Gen. Ed. Committees, as well as for a Faculty Senator Alternate. Nominations will be closed on October 11, 2007.

3. Professional Leave Review deadline for departments to get materials to the Provost’s Office is October 15, 2007.

Vice Chair’s Report

The deadline for Excellence Awards and Distinguished Ranks nominations is Friday, September 28, 2007. To date, we have received two nominees for Excellence in Teaching, one for Faculty Service and two for Distinguished Teaching Professor. If you know of any faculty who are deserving of nomination, please forward their names to Vice-Chair Showers. You can submit nominations in letter form or by email simply stating who is being nominated and for what award or rank.

Past Chair’s Report

Past-Chair Showers is currently preparing a proposal on revising the responsibilities of the secretary of the Senate. Showers is also working on a proposal to amend the constitution to change the term of the Senate Chair.

Treasurer’s Report

Flyers have been sent out starting the latest Senate funds campaign. If anyone has any questions about where funds go, please contact L. Ware and she will be happy to give you this information.

University Faculty Senator’s Report

M. Lima reported that there is an orientation for new University Faculty Senators on October 3rd and that she will be attending. The Fall Plenary Meeting, which she will also be attending, is October 25th and 26th at SUNY Cortland. She will continue to send along information and news clips from SUNY via email as she receives them.

Student Association Vice-President’s Report

J. Magan reported that the Student Association meetings are held every Wednesday at 6:15 PM in the College Union, Hunt Room. If anyone is interested in what the students are up to, faculty and administrators are always welcome at the meetings.

Reports of the Standing Committees of the Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Report

B. Owens reported that the first meeting will be held October 2 at 4:00 in Sturges 106. If you are not getting emails from R. Owens or the Dean’s Office, that means you are not on the committee list and should let him know.

Undergraduate Policy Committee Report

No report.

Graduate Academic Affairs Committee Report

No report.

Student Affairs Committee Report

D. Scott reported that the first meeting will be next Tuesday, Oct. 2nd.

President's Report1.C. Dahl was pleased to report that the turnout for the first All College Event "Diversity and Community at Geneseo: A Call to Action" was substantial—400 or more students, faculty and staff. He hopes this will be the beginning of a process where the college community looks carefully at what each one of us can do to advance diversity, which is essential to student success and to our achieving excellence as a public liberal arts college. C. Dahl also promoted the Deliberative Dialogues, the first of which will be held this Thursday. The topic at this event is “Community,” which is one of the underlying issues we are dealing with in relation to diversity. There will also be a Teach-In on “Race and Campus Culture” in the spring semester as well as cultural harmony week programming, including the Wadsworth Lecture by Julian Bond and Roland Freeman’s exhibit on the Mule Train journey in 1967, in October.

2.An email went out to the campus community today regarding NY-Alert, the New York State All-Hazards Alert and Notification Portal, a web-based system created and maintained by the State Emergency Management Office. Students and faculty are encouraged to provide contact information for the system. This is one of several steps taken to improve emergency communication in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Participation is voluntary, but the system will enable rapid communication by phone, email, and text-messaging in case of emergency or disaster.

3.Dr. Dahl is encouraging members of the college community to participate in initiatives to save energy on campus. The College has signed on to the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, and under the guidance of the College sustainability task force, Geneseo has the opportunity to serve as a model for public liberal arts colleges in this regard.

4.The state budget situation appears murky at best, and it is now clear that there will not be any additional appropriations during this session for capital projects. It is even unclear whether either House of the Legislature will even convene between now and the new session in January. The academic excellence fee proposal approved by the Trustees in May is currently under review by the Governor’s Office of Regulatory Reform. After that, it should go out for comment and then return to the Trustees. Since the Governor’s nominee for the new Chair of the Trustees has not been approved by the State Senate, the Trustees have not yet scheduled a meeting; no search committee has been appointed to select a new Chancellor; very little is happening at this time. Some of the issues involved in the academic excellence fee proposal (variable campus-based tuition, flexibility, and student aid) are simultaneously under consideration by the Governor’s Commission on Higher Education, which has been meeting since August. One thing is certain, however, the Academic Excellence Fee will not be implemented for Fall 2008. Stay tuned for further developments in a very complex and confusing process.

Provost's Report

1.The Provost encouraged all members of the campus to get involved with the Hubble Exhibit in Milne Library and utilize it while it is on campus through December.

2.Angel is the course management system that was purchased last spring. 100 faculty participated in the training over the summer. Faculty are really embracing the use of Angel for various things like quizzes, tests, and chat room discussions.

3.New Chairs Orientation is being run by Dave Gordon. This will not only include new department chairs, but also those who aspire to become chairs.

4.The new SUNY Vice Provost for Diversity and Equity is Pedro Caban, and he will be visiting campus on Thursday. If you have the opportunity to go to one of the meetings to be held that day, you are encouraged to do so.

Chair's Report

1.D. Granger reported that J. Perry is in charge of coordinating the election for replacements for M. McCrank and M. Nolan in the Senate.

2.Bulletin #1 is now on the Senate website and paper copies will be available soon. Executive Committee members should have already received an email with the bulletin attached.

3.After looking at the Constitution, D. Granger found that there is a May 1 deadline for departments to submit names of their senators to the Senate Chair. Early this spring a notice will be sent out to departments reminding them of this deadline.

4.As mentioned in Senate Bulletin #1, we will be holding a special an election for three positions on the General Education Committee. They have business they would like to bring before the Senate this fall. We also need two new representatives for the Professional Leave Review Committee and a Faculty Senator Alternate. The deadline for nominations for the special election is October 11, 2007.

5.The Strategic Planning Advisory currently has three faculty serving, but their terms are unknown. If anyone has this information, please pass it along to D. Granger. The Provost added that we were not in compliance with the terms last year; therefore, the procedures need to be re-established and adhered to this year.

Vice-Chair's Report

The deadline for Excellence Awards and Distinguished Ranks is September 28, 2007. To date, Vice Chair Showers has received one nomination for Excellence in Faculty Service and one for Distinguished Teaching Professor. If you know of any faculty or staff who are deserving of a nomination, please forward the name to D. Showers.

Past Chair's Report

D. Showers will be forwarding a proposal to the President regarding possible changes to the senate secretary position. He is also currently working on possible revisions to the term and responsibilities of the chair and vice-chair, which will require a Constitutional amendment.

Treasurer's Report

L. Ware will begin the campaign for the Senate fund in the very near future.

University Faculty Senate Report

No report

Students Association Vice-President's Report

J. Magan noted that there is still a need for two more student senators. She will convene their first meeting this Thursday in preparation for the Senate meeting on Tuesday.

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Report

The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee will meet on October 2, 2007 in Sturges 106 at 4:00. This information is also listed in the Bulletin.

Undergraduate Policy Committee Report

No report.

Graduate Academic Affairs Committee Report

No report

Student Affairs Committee Report

No report.

Faculty Affaris Committee Report

First Meeting is scheduled for next week.

Old Business

The Provost forwarded the information about confidentiality in meetings to legal counsel. Currently, she is waiting for comment on the issue.

#3: Development of department-based, clearly communicated expectations of the levels

of teaching, contributions to the discipline, and service for recommendation of

contract renewal, continuing appointment and promotion. (Action: Send

recommendation through senate)

#4: Adoption of a commercial form for student evaluation of teaching. The IDEA

form, which has formative and evaluative sections, is recommended. (Action:

Follow-up)

New Business: The committee discussed whether the administration’s current method of addressing faculty salary compression is under the purview of FAC. We determined that the issue relates to the “professional affairs” of the faculty, and therefore, would be appropriate for FAC consideration.

Chair Bob Owens called the meeting to order at 4:02PM. He changed the agenda to drop Engl 310 and Engl 350 as Dean’s Office matters. He also asked to remove the BA in Economics from today’s agenda as it is currently on hold elsewhere in the process.

With the revised agenda approved, the committee moved to discuss the proposals.

New Courses

AMST/HIST 262: Passed unanimously.

ANTH 392: Two questions came up about prerequisites and teaching loads/distribution. Paul Pacheco from Anthropology clarified, and the course passed unanimously.

ECON 350 Passed unanimously.

ENGL 232, 233, 320, 359: The committee moved to consider these courses as a block.

A member pointed out some discrepancies between the proposal and the submitted course syllabus for Engl 233. Rob Doggett form English replied that this course is a slot course. Discussion centered on how departments submit proposals for slot courses and for sample syllabi in a slot course. Engl 233 was removed from the block; it passed unanimously. The other three courses passed unanimously. It was agreed that the Dean’s Office would offer a proposal to clarify the submission of slot courses and accompanying course objectives and syllabi.

Change is to include additional course and to change minimum grade requirement. Passed unanimously.

BS in Biochemistry

Changes are Course changes, description change to coordinator position, and

writing requirement. Passed unanimously.

Revised Concentration

English concentration:

Change is updating course listings. Passed unanimously.

Deletion of Minor

Organizational and Occupational Behavior. There are very few students in this minor; those students will be able to complete the existing program. Passed unanimously.

Old Business

None

New Business

None

The next meeting is Oct. 30 at 4:00 in Sturges 106.

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 4:37PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Meg Stolee

Announcements

Calls for Nominations: Committee on Nominations and Faculty Personnel Committee

Nominations are being accepted for three positions on the Committee on Nominations to replace Sue Ann Brainard (Library), Bill Gohlman (History), and Jani Lewis (Biology). Newly-elected members’ terms will be December 1, 2007 through November 30, 2009. Leah Garland (SOTA), Sharon Peck (Education) and Zhiming Zhao (Anthropology) are the continuing members of the Committee on Nominations.

Nominations should be sent to Bill Gohlman (gohlman@geneseo.edu, 245-5735), Chair, or other members of the Committee on Nominations.

Nominations are also being accepted for three positions on the Committee on Faculty Personnel (a,k,a, the College Personnel Committee) to replace Rosemarie Chierici (Anthropology), Ron Herzman (English), and Don Marozas (Education). Newly-elected members’ terms will be December 1, 2007 through November 30, 2009. Gary Towsley (Mathematics), Dan Strang (Business), Steve Padalino (Physics), and Robert O’Donnell (Biology) are the continuing members of the Committee on Faculty Personnel, so no faculty members serving in these Departments are eligible. Each Department may nominate three faculty members, only one of whom can come from that Department. Nominees must be Associate Professors, Professors, Associate Librarians, or Librarians. Nominations should be submitted to Department Chairs, who will subsequently forward them to the Committee on Nominations.

Calls for Nominations for Forthcoming Special Election: Professional Leave Review Committee, General Education Committee, and University Faculty Senator Alternate

Nominations are being accepted for two positions on the Professional Leave Review Committee from the areas of Natural Science (to replace Sid Bosch) and Humanities (to replace Rachel Hall). One of the two people elected must have had professional leave in the past. Newly-elected members’ terms will be three years from Fall 2007 to Spring 2010.

Nominations are being accepted for three positions on the General Education Committee from the Fine Arts (to replace Amy Stanley), Humanities (to replace Kathy Mapes), and Social Sciences (to replace Dan Repinski). Newly-elected members’ terms will be two years from Fall 2007 to Spring 2009.

The Committee on Nominations is also soliciting candidates for University Faculty Senator Alternate. The newly-elected Senator Alternate will serve three years from June 1, 2007 to May 31, 2010.

Nominations for any of the above positions should be sent to Bill Gohlman (gohlman@geneseo.edu, 245-5735), Chair, or other members of the Committee on Nominations. Note that nominations for the special election will close on Oct.11.

Senate Treasurer’s Appeal for Donations

Hello Colleagues:

Please note that my recent appeal for fundraising to faculty and staff

follows a long tradition at Geneseo. Contributions are maintained by the

Geneseo Foundation to support:

The College Senate Small Grants Accounts (small grants to faculty to

support incidental costs of research, publication, exhibition, and

performance projects);The Richard Roark Fund (small grants to

students);and when notified, in the event of family loss, the College

Senate has sent flowers.

Our record of contributions is as follows:

Spring 2006 $790.00 was deposited

Spring 2005 $1,245.00 was deposited

Spring 2004 $695.00 was deposited

Last year no deposits were made into the account, thus the current call